Three blogs for hitting the trails
The Arctic Vortex last week offered a good opportunity to hunker down and work on one of my New Year’s projects, which is to improve this blog. To that end, […]
The Ghost of a Pepperrell Lady
Elizabeth Royall was a royal – a member of New England’s informal royalty. When she was a tween girl, she and her older sister Mary sat for a young John […]
Time travelling, sea to summit, in the woods of York, Maine
One of my favorite “backyard” walks is the “sea-to-summit” hike from Highland Farm in York to the summit of Mount Agamenticus. The walk doesn’t actually start at the beach, but […]
Living large on the lava fields at the Fimmvörðuháls Pass, Iceland
When we arrive at the lava flows, I am so glad that we opted to make the trek from Þorsmork (pronounced “Thorsmork”) to this misty pass between the Eyjafjallajökull and […]
Finding the fountain of youth (maybe) on Iceland’s Laugavegur trek
As we begin our hike from Landmannalaugar, I feel like I am 25 again, discovering new worlds for the very first time: vast green alpine fields, steaming fumaroles, a wide […]
Bushwhacking on Mount Tecumseh
Impossible as it may seem, within a few minutes of our hike up Mount Tecumseh in Waterville Valley, my friend and I have lost the trail, and now find ourselves […]
Brutal Beauty on Beaver Brook, Mount Moosilauke
Be careful, to avoid tragic results. Great. A punishing hike is exactly what I hoped to avoid when I set out on this day in mid-June to climb a 4,000-footer and […]
Governor John Wentworth and the Tea Party that wasn’t
What would happen when the tea landed in Portsmouth? Would a mob gather at the wharf? Would violence erupt? New Hampshire Governor John Wentworth pondered these questions when he learned, […]
Refuge in the sands
As all hell broke loose that Friday in Boston, the beach at Morris Island stretched for miles, empty and unpeopled, like the city in lockdown. Instead of fear, the beach […]
White elephant in a green valley
Here at Evergreen Valley, the outside temperature is 12 degrees, but a full 28 degrees warmer, at 40, inside our “villa.” We lost power yesterday (2/17), late in the afternoon […]